As someone who has a close affinity with Whitby, who fondly remembers spending many happy hours fishing at Kiddies Corner as a child, and then enjoyed regular sessions fishing from both piers during my youth, I am horrified that so little has been done ever since then by S.B.C to maintain these jewels in Whitby's crown.
Although I have always lived in Middlesbrough, Whitby was always the first place I wanted to go for a family day out. That passion for the place has remained with me all of my life and it is what drew me to attending the pier protest on 2/10/2011.
Although I no longer fish from Whitby's piers myself, I am still regularly drawn to the town and if I could afford to, I would choose to spend my remaining years living there. I long to see both piers packed with anglers of all ages and all of them having a great time of it like I used to.
Thankfully for me, W.S.A, and the online Whitby Gazette allow me to keep up with what is going on, so I am very grateful to both websites for that. Unfortunately, the occasional day visitors and holidaymakers will probably not be aware of these issues until they arrive in Whitby, and it is sad that many of them will be disappointed that they cannot fish from either of the piers and may not return in future. I also feel for the tackle shop owners who will suffer financially because of these ridiculously ill-timed decisions.
Something has got to be done to wrest control from these pen pushing councillors and give more direct power to the people that are directly affected by their decisions, not just the Harbour authority. Proper consultation involving all interested parties would be a good start.

Do you remember you dad or granddad saying "It would never have happened when I was a kid"

Well, it didn't!! We had the same tides the same storms but with less technology so why does "SCARBOROUGH" borough council keep closing areas in "WHITBY"?

I have lived in Whitby all my life 39 years and the decisions that are being made by SBC are becoming more ludicrous by the year.

I'll tell you why, because with reference to the above "We had the same tides etc" the fact is we had less "IDIOTS" and those idiots are even more stupid than we give them credit because what they don't realise is-If less money is spent in the town then the less revenue "SCARBOROUGH" gets.

Why do I say Scarborough, well-because they have been taxing, reaping and milking the good folk of Whitby for too long, for example "When was the last time you saw a decent Christmas tree in Whitby" now ask yourself the same about Scarborough?

Anyway, I think me going off on a tangent has said enough!
Its about time SBC started listening to the good Whitby folk!!

how do these guys get elected or is it a case of jobs for the boys,
after waiting for the summer weather and crowds that go with it, start shutting things down,make great sense for the traders who rely on summer trade,
cannot see any sense in shutting attractions like kiddies corner or the pier at whitby which draw much needed custom to the coast but sbc is not the only council to do this sort of thing ,leeds do their fair share of getting everyones back up.

No wonder the world is gone to s*** kid's are suffering they just seem to have everything taken off them kid's cannot be kid's now day's thank's to jobsworth's like Mr Cockerill .These people should be backing the hard working shop owner's in Whitby as they probably pay greedy council's extorcinate rates.I hope S B C get there head's out there arse's and let the good people of whitby carry on not having to worry about going out of buisness

Dear Sir,
I do not live in Whitby but about 250 miles South. I find a
decision to close facilities that engender family sport is unbelievable,
and to give no explanation is totally crass and arrogant. If there are
legitimate reasons for closing these amenities, surely the council
should publish the reasons for doing so.
All councils are servants of the public; after all they pay the council
and it's workers' salaries, surely therefore it is beholden on you to
explain yourselves in public or through the press.

The United Kingdom is supposed to be a democratic country that prides
itself in fairness and morality; therefore you would find things a lot
easier if you or the council did as suggested.
I do not expect a response to this as this does not appear to be the
councils policy.
Always remember that, come the next council elections, there could be a
number of people looking for new
jobs.

Hello,
As an outsider I may not be qualified to comment but I like Whitby very much and enjoy one or two trips there each year.

It seems to me that Whitby is regarded as a "poor relation" in SBC's eyes. Whilst I'm all in favour of preventive maintenance It appears that this has been done with little or no regard to the people and buisinesses of Whitby.
It's not just about the Kiddies corner either, if action had been taken sooner then the situation with the piers could have been planned better with the minimum of disruption to the locals, anglers and buisinesses.
I've read about the state of Whitby itself on this site and I realy do think that the people of Whitby deserve better.

:no: Its a real shame that the lack of planning and/or consultation by some departments effects so many people. I visit Whitby once a year with the kids and now grandchild where I would normally take them to this exact spot. Looks like I will have to wait it out. Tourist income suffers again. :gum:

Has anybody explained to SBC that the UK is going through a recession, with many small independant businesses closing on a daily basis.

Surely SBC should be using every trick in the book to ensure that Whitby makes the most of the summer tourist season to help to help these business people survive.

These traders pay business rates and i would think a high band of council tax to have the privelige of living and working in such a picturesque area that is steeped in history.

I fished kiddies corner with a hand line (bought in Whitby) as an excited child on my summer visits to Whitby before venturing along the piers with a rod in my teenage years.
How many people can say that in 10 - 15 years once fishing has been banned in Whitby.

Take a look at Redcar Mr Cockerill with the "virtual" shop fronts, charity shops and takeaways along the High St and see what you are doing to Whitby.

What next?
Ban the Goth weekends?
Follow Redcar's lead and build a vertical pier that local tax payers don't want?

I am not from Whitby, but like fishing there. Just wondering - might be they want more people fishing in Scarborough (read - might be this guy from council or his related is opening tackle shop there), but Whitby is much more likely visited by anglers (sure there is a reason why..).. Just writing a conspiracy theory..

My letter sent to mike cockrill
Hello Mr. Cockerill
Could you please tell me why Scarborough borough council have in their infinite wisdom decided to close kiddies corner during the first holidays of the season and also why the west pier is being closed at this time yes I know its for the fitting of a new bridge which I agree is badly needed BUT the timing is somewhat ridiculous. This is the start of the busiest fishing period at Whitby.
There are hundreds of children who learn the art of sea fishing at kiddies corner with their parents during the school holidays and you are depriving them of this opportunity.
Also with the west pier you are taking trade out of Whitby I personally have been sea fishing for 55 years and travel from Lancashire to fish this venue but will not be bothering now.
As with lots of councils there has been no thought gone into the timing of this venture and no consultation with the people who use these facilities.
I am totally disgusted by the attitude of the council to stop anglers sea fishing in a sea fishing town that owes its very being to the sea fishing industry.
Await your reply K Atkinson

It is my opinion that the farthers of SBC are jealous of the popularity that whitby has throughout the WORLD i know becouse i have witnessed this on my travels and SBC are doing thier utmost to destroy that immage, i do not see why it should take so long to do this SMALL job but then you only have to look at the fiasco of the sea defence the SBC had paid well over the top for and no heads rolled .
I have 50 years experiance in the construction industry and i visit Whitby very ofter from what i see of the size of the job it should be done in 2 weeks max. AND IN THE AUTUMN this is very bad timing (or it is done deliberate by some penpushing overpaid glorified office workers who do not care about thier jewil in the crown of the east coast of yorkshire)
COME ON SBC AND RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION NOW

Below is my email to Mr Cockerill and his reply, Seems Kiddies Corner will be open Friday

I got my reply last night at 22:51... I guess Mr Cockerill had a late night last night replying to lots of emails :tired: :tired: :tired:

Dear Mr Cockerill

Although not a constituent of SBC, I am a regular tourist to Whitby.
What I would like to know is why have SBC waited until the start of the busy summer tourist period to not only start repairs on the west pier but now close Kiddies corner in the middle of half term where parents and grandparents alike buy crab lines for the kids and spend several hours of fun with them.

I look forward to your reply /explanation into why SBC would wait until the start of the tourist season before working on these area's

Yours Sincerly

C.Farrar

On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 10:51 PM, Cllr.Mike Cockerill <Cllr.Mike.Cockerill@scarborough.gov.uk> wrote:
We are undertaking a survey of the structure which involves operatives working alongside and underneath cleaning and examining / taking samples of concrete and steel.
In order to afford protection for the workmen and the public the area is closed for general access which will be today(Although it has now reopened) and tomorrow,Thursday and whilst we have signed for Friday as well I would hope we are complete before then.

This area was identified as requiring attention in the Harbour Asset survey and this work will identify its actual condition and recommend the scope of repair works required.
The timing of the works coincides with the best low water tides available during the day at this time of year and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

The above is information provided by the relevant Borough Engineer

In regard to the footbridge, we have always stated that we would get the replacement bridge installed as soon as possible. That is what we are doing, we expect the bridge to be open mid to late July.

We have not "waited until the start of the tourist season before working on these area's" the timing has been largely dictated by matters outside our control, e.g. weather windows and sea state windows as well as bureaucratic procedures imposed from Westminster.

I emailed him last night and just had the standard reply he seems to have set up:

"We are undertaking a survey of the structure which involves operatives working alongside and underneath cleaning and examining / taking samples of concrete and steel.
In order to afford protection for the workmen and the public the area is closed for general access which will be today(Although it has now reopened) and tomorrow,Thursday and whilst we have signed for Friday as well I would hope we are complete before then.

This area was identified as requiring attention in the Harbour Asset survey and this work will identify its actual condition and recommend the scope of repair works required.
The timing of the works coincides with the best low water tides available during the day at this time of year and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

As already stated. I dont doubt the importance of the work. Its the timing and lack of communication that is the problem. Next week, or the week after would have been much more appropriate, next winter or last winter would have been even better as noone uses kiddies corner in winter. But not slap bang in the middle of the school holidays when families expect to use the area.

If the issue is one of "SAFETY" to anglers then why is it open again tonight. That's a smoke screen, everyone loves the safety card. I dont believe a word of it.

Whitby is a holiday resort and people expect to use the facilities. All Mr Cockerill has to do is actually ask the people in the know, and not the members of the Harbour Board, who actually know very little.

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Safety is such a huge and indiscriminate issue that people in positions of safter responsibility cannot afford to take risks. They also cannot afford to waste money doing these surveys until they are required. Seriously - imagine the areas they COULD close off peak to check they are OK. In retrospect - hats off to the council for having the nuts to do this when it was required. Don`t forget the workers carrying out the inspection work need to be safe as well.

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Boonylocks. I can understand what you are saying about H&S issues and true the embarrasment that would be caused if the structure collapsed, but you surely can see that the observation was'nt done yesterday or the day before. SBC have known that this survey has needed doing for some time and the question is WHY do it at this moment in time. This small closure of kiddies corner (Be it one day or one week) will and I'm sure has had a detrimental effect on local businesses and this is the point being made. To close something that is a big attraction to families and kids in a school holiday period is tantamount to ludicracy. SBC reopened Kiddies corner yesterday so they must think its safe and is not going to fall into the sea this morning.They could have made this observation weeks ago.
Its all about the timing or lack of (As far as I can see) And from reading other posts, another kick in the bo&&oc&s for Whitby.

Its seems that forward planning is not beyond the council the article link below shows how in the case of Scarborough's harbour, consultation and suitable timing were put into place - Why not in Whitby? Is it too far from Filey?

Better the work is done now than not at all.
I agree it's not perfect timing but I guess these things are a nightmare to co-ordinate.
As for whitby business losing money; does that mean that families on a day out in Whitby will go home just because one small area used for crabbing is closed for maintenance for a couple of days.
I think not. More likely they will find another activity to spend their money on in Whitby.